SoloProtect for Carrick Council workers

When one of Carrick District Council's officers was threatened whilst on a site visit, and conscious that other local councils in Cornwall were reporting similar incidences of verbal and physical abuse, Carrick District Council's Development Services Department decided to review its lone worker security. Now the Council has purchased Identicom as part of SoloProtect, a best-of-breed protection service for lone workers.

Previously, safety procedures relied on officers phoning the office if they were going to be delayed at a site visit, but as this often occurred after 5.00 p.m. when the offices were closed, leaving personnel unable to raise the alarm if an urgent situation arose. Having successfully been awarded the necessary funding, Development Services, which includes Building Control and Planning, decided to investigate products that would enable personnel to discreetly raise the alarm if threatened or in the event of an accident.

Various lone worker alarm technologies were examined and it was decided to trial the SoloProtect package. After a successful trial, which generated positive feedback, Carrick District Council purchased a total of 35 Identicom units, which are now being used by its planning, enforcement and building control officers as part of the SoloProtect package.

"Our officers regularly go to site to assess new developments prior to decisions being made on planning applications. They are also required to review developments under construction and investigate breaches of planning consent which means they are working alone and vulnerable to verbal and physical abuse", said Jayne Keast, Office Manager at Carrick District Council. "SoloProtect was chosen for its simplicity of pricing, ease of use and its 24/7 monitoring centre".

When an employee feels they are entering a hazardous situation, they press an amber alert button, which notifies SoloProtect's monitoring centre. In this way, the monitoring centre is able to note the wearer's location and raise the alarm if the amber alert is not cancelled within a predetermined period. If the red alert is then pressed the centres' support staff can discreetly listen in to what is happening and make an assessment as to the level of support required- involving the police if necessary. In the event of a verbal confrontation, the Centre can also record the conversation for future action.

Winner of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) IFSEC Security Industry Innovation Award 2007, SoloProtect is the only product on the market that truly addresses the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines that explicitly rule out the use of mobile phones and demand a reduction in false alarms. SoloProtect combines Identicom with a 24/7 manned monitoring service accredited to the highest UK standard, BS5979 Cat II, through a partnership with Reliance Security, an established market leader in the provision of electronic security solutions. SoloProtect provide end user training, which has been delivered to thousands of lone workers, included in a fixed monthly fee.